Laurent Tirard about the music for Le Petit Nicolas, composed by Klaus Badelt (Pirates of the Carribbean, Catwoman):“...Klaus and I instantly got along. We both grew up with a fascination for American cinema, we both went over there to learn the ropes of our professions, and we both wanted to put this experience at the service of our own cultures. I believe this is what Klaus liked about the idea of writing the musical score for Little Nicholas, it was a return to his European roots, a style that would enable him express more personal things connected to his childhood. This was a far cry from a Hollywood film. For a project such as Little Nicholas, he knew that the music had to have a soul. There could be no question of anything syrupy or soppy.

Klaus joined the project very early on, but it took him a long time to write anything. Though he was enthusiastic, he was also very apprehensive – even anguished, you could say – about the project and the challenge it represented. We spent several weeks talking about Tati, about Django Reinhart, about Blake Edwards and Mancini, about Francois de Roubaix’s music, and about the tonality we wanted to give the film. And then one day, Klaus showed me the video of an artist he’d just discovered on YouTube, a Dutchman named Geert Chatrou who had a special talent: he could whistle any piece of music perfectly. Beyond the spectacular aspect of watching this virtuoso handling his natural instrument so flawlessly, it was the idea of the whistling that allowed Klaus and I to find the pitch we wanted for the film.

The whistling instantly brought us back to our childhood. It had a playful, poetic, nostalgic and melancholic note, and at the same time was extremely simple. The whistling was like a diapason which allowed us to find the right tone for the rest of the music. From then on, things went relatively fast. Klaus’ music was very rich, with surprising instrumental blends (which is what earned him a pharaonic two-week recording session, where each instrument was recorded seperately). In the middel of it all, Geert Chatrou’s whistling appears here and there, like a sort of guest star.

The recording session with Geert remains a wonderful memory; Klaus and I were utterly impressed by his capacity to improvise any piece whatsoever on the spot. When it was all over, my initial feeling about the music for Little Nicholas was, I must admit, one of deep relief. Music is always a very sensitive subject for directors....”